The Rocky Patel Private Cellar is one of Patel’s newest cigars released for distribution in the summer of 2012. The Rocky Patel Company promotes this cigar as a medium-bodied one but I personally found it a bit on the milder side but perhaps this may be skewed a bit since I normally smoke strong cigars.

The blend for this cigar is made up of primarily tobacco grown in Nicaragua and is wrapped with a very rustic and, in my own personal opinion, ugly-looking Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. The cigars themselves are manufactured at Patel’s Tavicusa factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

The MUWAT (My Uzi Weighs A Ton) project is a collaborative effort between Drew Estate’s Subculture Studios and Joya de Nicaragua Factory. Rolled at the Joya factory the MUWAT Bait Fish was officially released at the 2011 IPCPR trade show and is exclusively sold through New Havana Cigars out of Columbus, Ohio.

Released at the 2009 IPCPR show the Viaje Fifty Fifty No.1 Black Label is not exactly new to the cigar world but it's pretty hard to find. “Viaje” meaning journey in Spanish, is a small boutique cigar company who produces cigars under the motto, “quality is better than quantity.” Their small verses big attitude allows for more quality control and a better overall product for its consumers.

The official description of the blend is as follows:

“the idea behind Fifty | Fifty is to offer the ability to enjoy two different flavor profiles while smoking the same cigar. Fifty | Fifty’s components are a closely-guarded secret, but two distinct blends were formulated to make up the cigar. Joining the two blends was a challenge that was difficult to perfect. Each cigar is carefully crafted taking triple the amount of time a normal cigar takes to roll. The cigar comes wrapped in a dark, oily Nicaraguan cover leaf with two binders holding the filler in place. Fifty | Fifty starts out as a rich medium bodied cigar before transitioning into a bold, full-bodied smoke.”

Supposedly being the go to brand for Sir Winston Churchill, La Aroma de Cuba first originated in... Cuba. Today, the Cuban version still exists but there are also non-Cuban LADC's produced. The La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especial are rolled and blended by Jose “Pepin” Garcia for Ashton Distributors. At the time of their making Pepin was crawling into new territory by using the Ecuadorian wrapper instead of his traditional Nicaraguan standard leaves.

Cigar Aficionado did rate the La Aroma de Cuba Edición Especial No.5 its #4 cigar of the year in 2008 (which to some means absolutely nothing) however it certainly encouraged me to pick a couple up to try. And that’s exactly what I did back in 2009. Since then these cigars have sat in my humidor (4 years) almost as a long lost friend. So, today is the day I pull them out to see if these once lovely cigars are still making our hearts and palates wanting more.

Owned by the Quesada family, and rolled at the Matasa factory in the Dominican Republic, the Fonseca CXX Anni cigars are being produced in celebration of the brand's 120th year in existence. According to the 2011 Volume 16 No.1 issue of Smoke Magazine:

“…a special blend limited to only 120,000 cigars in three different sizes… the new blend commemorates the brand’s Cuban roots, tapping Cuban-seed fillers grown in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, Cuban-seed Dominican binder, and a rich, intensely flavored sungrown Habano Veulta Arriba wrapper from a microfarm in the Navarrete region.”

The Fonseca CXX Anni is available in the following sizes: 46 x 6 3/8 Corona; 52 x 5 7/8 Robusto; and 60 x 4 7/8 Gordo. Prices range from $7.00 to $9.00 depending on the size.

Introduced in 2011, the Alec Bradley Black Market line is handmade in Danli, Honduras and sports a Jalapa-grown Nicaraguan wrapper "cured to a dark, shimmering patina". The cigar is a blend of Honduras and Panama-grown Jamastran tobaccos.

Casa Magna Colorado Corona was just the right size for my first week-end of outdoor smoking in 2013 (I'm a bit late in writing this review). This is a well-known blend since 2008, when it was named top cigar of the year by a well-known lifestyle magazine. This Nicaraguan puro is supposed to be a good bang for your buck, providing a high-end flavor profile for an affordable price (it can be found between $5 and $6). Let’s see whether this is true.

The Illusione ~2~ looks feisty. Short and stubby but a deep brown that exudes power and as I turn it to peer down the foot, I see a dense weave of ligero throughout the bunch.

As I light it, I find myself a bit surprised. At first it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be as spicy as I thought and certainly not as spicy as the ~mk~ (which is a limited release with an extra oomph thrown in).